By CHRIS POPP, Grizzly Basketball Head Coach
WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The No. 16 Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzlies basketball team opened Region 16 play Saturday, Jan. 13, by welcoming the Mineral Area College Cardinals to the West Plains Civic Center.
A year ago, the two teams battled into double overtime before the Park Hills squad topped the Grizzlies. This year was a different story. The Grizzlies pulled out to an early lead, never looking back in a 93-79 home win.
Early 3-pointers got the Grizzlies started and continued throughout the night. Freshman guard Johde Campbell knocked in five, while Ricky Torres drained eight from long distance, setting a career high. On the night, the Grizzlies hit 15 of 28 from behind the arc.
“Mineral Area plays a lot of zone. Regardless, our focus is always to get the ball to the paint, but we knew going into the night we would get and need to make open perimeter shots,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Chris Popp said. “I was happy with the way the shots came. One part of our identity as a team is ball movement. When the ball moves, good things happen.”
The Grizzlies were still short-handed; however, Popp praised the production in their absence. “A number of players have had to step up, fill holes and adjust their roles. As well as Ricky and Radshad are playing right now, I can’t say enough about Johde Campbell, Eric Lovett and Dontell Brown, in particular. Those three have stepped into starting roles with high expectations and have come through against some very good teams.”
Torres led the Grizzlies with 28 points, six assists, four rebounds and two blocked shots. Campbell followed with 19 points, and Brown and Davis added 18 a piece. Davis completed a double-double performance with 11 rebounds, and he added five assists.
The Grizzlies maintained a comfortable lead, extending it to as many as 21 points late in the second half. The Cardinals made a push, but never got the lead under 14.
“They are too good of a team to ever feel comfortable. That is something I believe the wars we have been through this year has taught our team. We never lost our focus,” Popp said.
“We are just getting started in the region and have to continue to grow, but it is great to see those signs of maturity. Early in the year, we got comfortable at times and let big leads get worked down to where it was a battle to hold on,” he added.
The Grizzlies travel to Little Rock, Arkansas, Wednesday to face Arkansas Baptist College at 7 p.m. They return to the civic center Saturday for their homecoming match-up with Three Rivers College at 7 p.m.
“Three Rivers is always a great rivalry atmosphere. This homecoming will have a little something extra as we celebrate our 25th year of athletics,” Popp said. For more information on homecoming events, visit https://news.wp.missouristate.edu.